I was browsing through the Product of the Week section yesterday and was amazed to see a pizza that I had only a few weeks ago was there - so I decided to write a review about my experience of the Goodfellas Delicia Mediterranean Pizza.
I am a huge fan of Pizzas and absolutely love the Pizza ... Read review
Advantages: Cheap, Quick & Easy, Vegeterian Disadvantages: May not suit meat eater and contains trans-fats
...about my experience of the Goodfellas Delicia Mediterranean Pizza.
I am a huge fan of Pizzas and absolutely love the Pizza Express range of Pizzas - especially the Sloppy Giuseppe! I prefer pizza with lots of meat and peppers on but am definitely open to all sorts of pizzas. Apparently there are around 250 million frozen pizzas (they are actually all cooked first I believe!) eaten in the UK each year - an average of 9 per household. ... ...the distinctive packaging of the Goodfellas Delicia Mediterranean Pizza. I then looked at the ingredients and information about it and it said...
"Thin Italian-style stone-baked pizza base, spread with a rich sun-dried tomato and basil sauce, melting creamy mozzarella and cheddar cheeses. Piled with juicy chargrilled chunks of courgette, aubergine and red & yellow peppers, then smothered with a provencale herb butter to finish" more
I was browsing through the Product of the Week section yesterday and was amazed to see a pizza that I had only a few weeks ago was there - so I decided to write a review about my experience of the Goodfellas Delicia Mediterranean Pizza.
I am a huge fan of Pizzas and absolutely love the Pizza Express range of Pizzas - especially the Sloppy Giuseppe! I prefer pizza with lots of meat and peppers on but am definitely open to all sorts of pizzas. Apparently there are around 250 million frozen pizzas (they are actually all cooked first I believe!) eaten in the UK each year - an average of 9 per household. I personally think I eat about 50 a year. A few months ago I can remember having 3 consecutive meals of pizza!
Ok, so I can imagine you understand how much I love pizza. Therefore when I asked my mum a few weeks back what we had for dinner and she replied 'Pizza' I was rather happy! I then came down to enquire yet further about what pizza we had and she told us that she had gone for something slightly different to see what it was like. She went to the fridge and pulled out the distinctive packaging of the Goodfellas Delicia Mediterranean Pizza. I then looked at the ingredients and information about it and it said...
"Thin Italian-style stone-baked pizza base, spread with a rich sun-dried tomato and basil sauce, melting creamy mozzarella and cheddar cheeses. Piled with juicy chargrilled chunks of courgette, aubergine and red & yellow peppers, then smothered with a provencale herb butter to finish"
Hmmm... sounds quite different I thought but it was a vegetarian option! No meat! Nevertheless I said it sounded quite nice and I was intrigued to see if I liked it. I asked when dinner would be and went back upstairs to complete my homework!
************************ A Bit about Goodfellas ************************
Goodfellas are a well renowned Irish pizza manufacturing company, producing a large selection of frozen pizzas. There website http://www.goodfellas-pizzas.com/html/Default.asp says the following...
"When you want something delicious to eat without the need to spend hours preparing it, a Goodfella's pizza offers you great taste with the added convenience of being frozen.
We've created a range of irresistible pizzas designed to suit every mood and lifestyle, whether you're having a night in with your mates, feeding the kids or even a romantic meal for two - we've got it covered.
With such a wide range of pizza styles and flavours to choose from, including Deeply Delicious, Delicia and La Bottega, it looks like it's closing time for pizzerias."
This seems like a fairly accurate analysis of the company. They are easy to cook, versatile and offer a good wide selection. The website is well organised, quick to load and provides a range of superb information and FAQs which I will talk about later in the review.
************************ What my mum says..... ************************ Because it was my mum who was behind purchasing, storing and cooking the pizza, I decided to give her a quick interview to find out more. Here are her 'expert and professional' thoughts on the pizza.
Me: 'Hi mum' Mum: 'Hello' Me: 'Ok... firstly, where did you buy the pizza from and how much did it cost' Mum: 'Erm, I got it from Tesco Manston [our local Tescos] and I can't remember the exact cost but it wasn't a lot, a couple of pounds?' Me: 'And what tempted you to buy the Goodfellas Delicia Mediterranean Pizza?' Mum: 'I wanted something that I could store in the freezer and cook quickly without much hassle after a busy day of teaching little brats. [She is a teacher!] It was also something different that we had not tried before and I thought I'd give it a go!' Me: 'Do you have a problem with buying frozen food? Was it easy to fit into your freezer?' Mum: 'Frozen food is very convenient, especially for our hectic lives. I can come home from work and stick it straight in the oven. Storage was fine.' Me: 'Ok, what was the packaging on the pizza like?' Mum: 'Er... it was in a cardboard box and the pizza was in a plastic cover on a polystyrene base I think' Me: 'Could you open it ok?' Mum: 'Yes, I have had enough practice - you don't do anything to help around the house!' Me: 'Excuse me, I did the washing up last night' Mum: 'Yeah but you did a lousy job!' Me: 'Ok, how long did it take you to cook and how did it need to be cooked?' Mum: 'The instructions said place the pizza in the oven by itself, which I did and cook for about 12 minutes at around 200 degrees. I think it didn't take that long - this new oven we had is pretty quick' Me: 'Did you personally like the pizza?' Mum: 'Yeah, I thought it was really nice. It smelt lovely and the texture and combination of flavours, especially the peppers!' Me: 'Ok, would you consider buying it again' Mum: 'Definitely, I really liked it' Me: 'Thanks mum that concludes the interview!' Mum: 'Do I get commission for this interview?' Me: 'No, just my undying love and appreciation for you being the best mum in the world'
*Well, you have to keep your mum happy*
************************** Smell, Taste and Looks **************************
Obviously, the smell and taste of the Pizza is very important. As it was cooking and I was busy doing some Maths homework - integrating involving trigonometry - the smell of tomato and herbs slowly wafted up the stairs. It smelt very nice and added to the hunger that I was already feeling. I began salivating and my stomach rumbled with the prospect of a meal. Moments later, mum called out 'Dinner' and myself and my sister trotted off down the stairs and my Dad strolled in the from the front room and we sat at the table as Mum put down the pizza in the middle of the table.
The pizza had been cut into fours, leaving a fair sized piece each. I put a piece of my plate. The pizza looked very appetising. The toppings had roasted to a nice golden colour and the cheese had melted nicely and the tomato sauce had turned slightly brown. Upon indulging, I immediately got an overriding taste of tomato and peppers. The texture was quite weird with a mixture of the crispy pizza base, soft melted cheese and soft vegetable toppings. The taste was pleasant, but I always felt it was lacking some meat! I found the aubergines and courgettes to be slightly on the soggy side and they were quite soft and I did not like the taste of them. So after trying a couple, I scrapped them off onto the side of my plate. The taste was overall fairly nice - I can imagine that if you are a vegetarian and like other pizzas with this style that you would really like the Goodfellas Delicia Mediterranean Pizza. If you are more of a meat man like myself, it may not be your thing.
********************** What to have with it? **********************
With our pizza, we had some nice chunky chips, a lovely salad with lettuce, tomatoes, sweet corn, red peppers, cucumbers and ciabatta bread - continuing the Italian theme. On the Goodfellas' website, they recommend having couscous, roasted vegetable salad and a chilled Soave with your pizza. The pizza seemed quite versatile and would probably go with a lot of different combinations. Therefore it gives you the opportunity to experiment and personalise your own meal.
*************************** A Pizza for all Occasions! ***************************
Not only can the Goodfellas Delicia Mediterranean Pizza do a family meal after a busy day at work, it can also be used in many other situations. Here are a few suggestions that it could be used for:
• Buffet: A few slices of this pizza out on the table would give a buffet variety and satisfy vegetarian needs in the pizza department. Accompanied by a large selection of other food, such as meats, quiches, rice and salads you could have a feast fit for a King - well perhaps the in-laws during the family get together! • Mediterranean themed night: This pizza could form an integral part of a Mediterranean themed evening. Served with the right food and with guests in appropriate dress, it could make for a great night! And without pestering waiters trying to get you into their restaurant - doesn't that just do your head in? • Pizza in front of the TV: If you are having a night in, watching your favourite TV programme or perhaps watching some football, then the Goodfellas Delicia Mediterranean Pizza could be perfect for you to eat whilst 'slobbing' out on the sofa! I think my Pizza might have gone flying on Tuesday night if I was eating during the Man United game - superb football match! • The morning after: I'm a great fan of cold pizza, especially for breakfast the next morning whilst trying to recover from a dreadful hangover. You can definitely let the pizza help you to ease your head. Although I can't imagine the aubergines and courgettes may not go down too well with a dodgy stomach. Perhaps scrapping them off could be a good option if you're feeling rather tender.
************************ Nutritional Information ************************
After having a quick browse of the net, I managed to find the nutritional information of the Pizza. We recycled our packaging and I urge everyone to do the same because it is vital that we look after our planet.
Per 100g Protein - 9.1g Carbohydrate - 25.3g Fat - 12.2g of which 4.6g saturates
Obviously, if you eat Pizzas everyday it is not very healthy. However, they can definitely be integrated into a good diet. 'Everything in moderation' as the famous saying goes. The Goodfellas' website (http://www.goodfellas-pizzas.com/html/FAQs.asp) has a lot of information and FAQs about health relating to their pizzas. I strongly recommend that you have a read through the website if you have any queries. If you are worried about the food being frozen and fearing that it is not as nutritional as fresh food, the website claims that frozen food is actually as good as fresh food.
I did however notice that there are some trans-fats in the Pizza, due to hydrogenated oils, which can increase the chances of coronary heart disease. Potentially a downside to quite a nice pizza - but there again, if we paid attention to everything that was supposed to be bad for us what we have left to eat?!
The information about the nutrition of this pizza will obviously be interpreted in everybody's individual way. I believe that everybody appreciates that pizzas are not a healthy option and therefore eat them infrequently as part of a well rounded diet. From the point of view of a treat and something to indulge in, then I think that this pizza is great. It didn't leave me feeling bloated but rather full - it's a filling! The fat content is quite high but it is also full of protein, vital for cell maintenance and repair, and carbohydrates, full of energy. Obviously, too much of these are bad but Goodfellas Delicia Mediterranean Pizza is not going to do too much damage to you if you eat it once in a while.
****************** The Competition ******************
As I have already mentioned, I'm a big fan of the Pizza Express range of Pizzas. There is a superb selection of variety and cover all tastes with plenty of different combinations. They come in different sizes too, serving between 1 and 4 people. However, they are very expensive. At my local Waitrose a medium sized pizza serving 2 will set you back over £3.50. Cheaper options include the usual 'own brand' products. I quite like the Tesco Ham and Pineapple Pizzas and priced at under £2 are superb value for money.
Generally, I think that buying pizzas are often impulse purchases, as shown with my mum and this pizza! Therefore I advise that you experiment with several pizzas and try out a selection because you may discover some delicious pizzas that you would never have given a try before.
************************************ Should I cook or get a take-away? ************************************
In our world of today, the take-away is seemingly taking over the world. Loads of my friends have take-aways rather than cooking themselves.
Personally, I think that cooking yourself is definitely the better option. Here are several reasons why I would choose to eat-in rather than get a take-away pizza
• Cheaper: £2 for a pizza, rather than around £6-7 depending on what you get. • Satisfaction: although you haven't done a lot, you can be proud that you have spent time to prepare your meal yourself • Health: I think that cooking food yourself is much healthier than take-aways.
I'm not saying that I would never get a take-away, but looking at it subjectively, eating in is my opinion the better option. However, getting a take-away does have the following advantages:
• Ease: you don't have to lift a finger. • Time: it takes you 2 seconds to ring up when it takes you 12 - 15 minutes to cook and prepare the pizza
************************** Some more Pizza Facts **************************
Whilst doing this review, I have gone slightly pizza mad. I was browsing for the most popular UK pizzas and found this little snippet from the net:
"The first National Pizza Day launches on 17th November, to celebrate the nation's love of pizza. Pizza is one of the UK's top ten favourite foods and Brits have eaten almost 250 million frozen pizzas in the last year alone.
The top three best selling pizzas in the UK are cheese (42% of pizza sales), pepperoni (25%) and chicken (12%). However, recent research by Goodfella's - the UK's no 1 frozen pizza company - shows that there are clear regional preferences when it comes to toppings.
Like marmite, Brits tend to either love Hawaiian pizzas or hate them. According to recent figures, it's people in the Midlands who are most likely to enjoy this sweet and savoury ham and pineapple combo, with 16% of all Hawaiian pizzas eaten here.
With much of the UK's fish being landed in Scotland, it might come as no surprise that seafood toppings are most popular among the Scots, while meat proves a clear winner with Scotland's northern neighbours: Pepperoni is the no 1 choice in the North East; people from Yorkshire enjoy a meat feast pizza and Lancashire lads and lasses are more likely to chomp on chicken based toppings.
When it comes to meat-free options, almost 1 in 5 pizzas bought in London have a vegetable topping (17%), while a quarter of mushroom pizzas are sold in the East of England. Residents of the South West prefer a simple cheese pizza.
Although the Welsh are best known for lamb, they're far more likely to choose beef for their pizza topping than anyone else in the UK. In fact, over half of Goodfella's beefy pizzas (57%) are eaten by the Welsh. Those in the South East, on the other hand, are most likely to bring home the bacon (pizza).
Goodfella's spokesperson, Adrian Mooney, comments, "While there are some clear favourites when it comes to pizza, regional food trends are reflected in pizza toppings and there also seems to be a north / south divide. Luckily, Goodfella's pizzas cater for all tastes.""
I found this information astonishing to believe and hope that you, the readers, do too. I never knew that pizzas were such complex things!
************** A Brief Summary **************
Price: Around £2 Cooking Time: 12 minutes Suitable for Vegetarians Interesting textures, nice flavours - especially the peppers Perhaps not ideal for meat lovers Fairly nutritional, if eat in moderation Does contain trans-fats Serves between 2 and 4 depending on sides Go to http://www.goodfellas-pizzas.com/html/FAQs.asp for more information
************* The Conclusion *************
I definitely think that the Goodfellas Delicia Mediterranean Pizza is worth a try. At around £2.20 it is not going to set you back a lot and if you don't try it, you will never know if you like it! It is a great pizza for vegetarians and can be eaten in a whole range of different scenarios. Meat lovers may not enjoy the pizza, but I didn't find it too bad. It smells good, looks fairly appetising and tastes pretty good. They are not the healthiest things in the world but they can easily be made into part of a good well-balanced diet.
Well worth a try and when I go off to University in September it could be one of my 'specialities'!
Thanks for reading and I hope that you have enjoyed it, Steve xx
Advantages: Convenience Versatility and Price Disadvantages: The need for two, Damage in transit
...Who are they?
*********************************
Goodfellas are a pizza manufacturer based in Ireland, and to the extent of my knowledge restrict their business to the United Kingdom and Ireland (Message me if you know more)
Their advertising and publicity campaigning, is somewhat successful, leaving Goodfellas with an irresistible reputation, that fits perfectly into the '9-5 working family meal' niche. They market themselves as a non-junk food ... ...weekday or a special occasion. Goodfellas provide frozen pizzas which give these pizzas the all important convenience factor over other easy-to-make meals.
They will provide you with extra information on the telephone (the numbers are given below) and in writing in the United Kingdom and Ireland, the addresses are listed on the website. The website is well organised, easily accessible, serves it's purpose and is easy to navigate, with a mountain ...
Askluke 14.04.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Goodfellas Delicia Mediterranean Pizza
Advantages: Quick, Easy cook Disadvantages: High in saturated fat
...in the world. Goodfellas Delicia Mediterranean Pizza :~
So is this pizza better for us, by calling it Mediterranean you would think so. people in the med live longer, you have seen all the adverts olive oil marg instead of butter, pasta and tomato sauce, showing, (have to be politically correct here), the more mature generation running and jumping and god forbid getting up to hanky panky.
But checking the label this 300g pizza has a whopping 11.6g ... ...penny more buys you a Goodfellas Delicia Mediterranean Pizza. To get this bargain of a life time you need to dash to Asda and fill that shopping trolley. It also has a best before date of December 2007 so if you love pizza lots you could have it for Christmas dinner and it still only cost you £1.
Packaging :~
Lots of packaging for frozen food is normally over sized making you think the meal inside is bigger than it actually is. But the pizza is ...
oldwasp 11.04.2007 (12.04.2007)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Goodfellas Delicia Mediterranean Pizza
Advantages: Cheesy, variety of vegetable toppings. Disadvantages: Doesn't stand out, disgusting courgettes and aubergines!
...is a review of the Goodfellas Delicia Mediterranean Pizza, not the 1990 film starring Robert De Niro and Ray Liotta!!
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Goodfel las Delicia Mediterranean Pizza
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My, my what a coincidence I happened to buy this product last Monday or Tuesday instead of my usual, bland yet tasty product; Margharita pizza! Sectioned in the frozen food section ... ...vegetables for their toppings. Goodfellas is a reliable and well-known brand which is somewhat famous for it's Italian style pizzas designed to fill gaps quickly at dinner in tasty fashion and many pizzas can be found at their website with descriptions of each pizza. So in this review I will be discussing all the major sections of a pizza, where you find out all you need to know; the price, the taste, the packaging and other useful hints along with ...
powellandrew 11.04.2007 (12.04.2007)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Goodfellas Delicia Mediterranean Pizza
Advantages: Great taste, Cheap, Easy to cook Disadvantages: Not the most healthy pizza
...in the mood for a Goodfellas Delicia Mediterranean Pizza. I expect it makes you feel the same way too.
Now apart from that, what makes you want to but one of these pizzas? What makes it stand out from the rest? Well to be perfectly honest not a lot. However it is still one of the best Mediterranean pizzas that you can buy from your local supermarket, and I will tell you why.
The price is a big factor that influences a lot of people to buy this ... ...such as Tesco and Iceland, this pizza gives a lot of competition for its price. When browsing the pizza section at Tesco, you will skim over a lot of prices, mostly ranging from two pounds to three pounds. So being in the low two pound mark is a great edge for the pizza, and helps you out if you are on a tight budget, and especially good for students like me.
The packaging of the pizza has vibrant colours to help make it stand out in the crowd of ...
TJGardner 11.04.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Goodfellas Delicia Mediterranean Pizza
Advantages: Tastes great, inexpensive, not too unhealthy Disadvantages: Not healthy enough to eat everyday
...to treat yourself than a Goodfellas Delicia Mediterranean Pizza, for a mere £2 this delight can be yours. The flavors from this pizza when cooked, all compliment each other wonderfully to provide a rich and spicy mediterranean taste. The box recommended half of the 300g pizza as a serving I found that on it's own this was not quite enough, however served with a garlic bread, fries, or a good salad half the pizza was fine.
How to cook it:
I have ... ...first time, however the first time I forgot about it, and it ended up charred and black though it did make a good frisbee! The second attempt at cooking it I was satisfied but found parts of the crust had cooked more than others creating an uneven texture, and a bitter taste. On the third attempt however I looked at the instructions on the box and since then I have used this method cook in the oven on a flat base( what I didn't do in attempt two.) ...
gilmore 11.04.2007 (15.04.2007)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Goodfellas Delicia Mediterranean Pizza
